The Finance and Administration Coordinator will assist the MENTOR Initiative Central African Republic mission in achieving programme objectives in a timely manner and support the Country Director (CD) with the strategic development of responses to identified needs on the ground and donor funding opportunities. The consultant will establish, update and maintain the organisation’s standardised financial, administrative and human resource systems and processes in CAR, and will ensure the implementation of these at all levels of the organisation’s country programmes. In this context, the Finance and Admin Coordinator is part of the country management team.
The main responsibilities of this post include the following:
Financial Coordination
- Ensure that good quality finance and administration systems as per the standard MENTOR Initiative guidelines are functioning and maintained in the programme
- Ensure correct account management for all grants in accordance with the grant agreement(s)
- Supervise and provide training on finance and administration procedures to the concerned staff members in the MENTOR Initiative
- Supervise the use and understanding of the MENTOR accountancy software by the concerned staff (local and international) in each field base.
- Ensure that all members of the MENTOR team are trained in and respect the MENTOR Finance and Administration procedures.
- Prepare monthly electronic and paper reports on expenditure against project budget(s) and send these together with all hardcopy receipts and other expenditure-related paperwork, including bank statements, to the MENTOR Initiative Grants Management Team at HQ level.
- Prepare monthly budget control overviews for each base in the mission
- Support the Country Director with ensuring compliance to all Grant agreements for financial reporting and procurement. This includes field level compliance to all legal aspects of the grant agreement
- On the basis of cash available in-country, planned expenditure and budget available, ensure that regular Requests for Cash Advances are sent to the HQ grants manager.
- Overall responsible for salary / fee payments to all local team members including daily workers as required.
- Overall responsible for distributing ICLA and security cash (when required) to international team members as well as reimbursement of approved expenses.
- Maintain a MENTOR bank account in the programme country
- Attend monthly finance coordination meetings with other NGOs
Administration
- Follow up on all rental agreements for the MENTOR Initiative guesthouse(s), office(s), and vehicles, etc. and renew rental agreements when necessary
- Follow up on government demands and decrees that have direct impact on the mission’s work.
- When necessary, follow-up on the MENTOR Initiative’s registration in country with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other local actors
- Assists in external meetings (administration and Human Resource cluster, NGO forum etc) to represent The MENTOR Initiative when necessary. Minutes of meetings are to be set up and shared afterwards.
- Assist the CD with any other administrative tasks as required
Human Resources
- Directly responsible for all administrative aspects of local staff recruitment. This includes set up of non-technical job descriptions and assisting with the editing of technical job descriptions, posting adverts, organizing interviews, etc.
- Ensure that standard salary scale and per diem polices are in place and updated regularly upon validation from MENTOR Grants Management Team.
- Ensure compliance with all local government taxation and labour regulations concerning employment contracts.
- In collaboration with the CD, oversee that national staff adheres to The MENTOR Initiative contracts, sexual harassment policies and internal rules.
- Chair monthly meetings with national staff and follow up on demands and suggestions
- Assist in monthly meetings with national staff delegates
- In collaboration with the CD and other line managers, ensure that international team members respect internal rules and policies in relation to the management of national staff under their responsibility.
- Responsible for all expat administration including the role as focal point for international flights, holiday planning and contract changes (i.e. extensions)
- Focal point, in cooperation with the CD, for the national labour inspection (including for all legal complaints issued by national staff)
Programme Support
- Assist the CD with writing of Memorandums of Understanding
- When required, represent the MENTOR Initiative in external coordination meetings (including donor related meetings)
- At the request of the CD, provide finance/admin and/or human resources support during field or assessment missions.
Reporting / Proposal writing
- Advise and assist the CD in the creation of viable new proposals and budgets
- As required, assist the CD and the HQ grants manager with budget reporting to donors so that these are prepared and submitted in a timely manner, as per the grant agreements.
- Participate in the elaboration of regular internal situation reports (‘sitreps’) for subjects directly related to the responsibilities of the Finance and Administration Coordinator.
Other
- From time to time and as requested, work with MENTOR Initiative Grants Management Team to share best practice across the organization.
- Includes the possibility of transfer to another similar post in another MENTOR Initiative country programme within the period of this contract agreement.
- Any other duties as may be assigned by the CD and agreed with the Director.
****Job Requirements:****
Accountant or other similar finance / administration related certification and/or minimum 3 years of field experience of which at least 2 are in emergency settings.
Fluent French (oral and written)
Good English (oral and written)
Excellent communication skills
Experience working with SAGA an advantage
Familiarity with NGO working environments and standard procedures.
Team player
Disciplined
Proven capacity to train others
Flexible and willing to learn
Practical, hands on approach
Ability to work long hours
Honest, conscientious and reliable
Job Title: Finance and Administration Coordinator
Work Base: Bangui (Central African Republic) with extensive field travel to MENTOR bases (North West and potentially other areas pending funding).
Responsible to: Country Director (MENTOR CAR) and technically to the Grant Manager at HQ level
Duration: 1 year
Start date: November 2015
Fee: USD3000 to USD4000 depending on experience
HOW TO APPLY:
Please send CV and letter of motivation to recruitment@mentor-initiative.netand fabio@mentor-initiative.net
